You can subscribe to MobileMe, Apple’s $99 a year online services suite, using a credit card or an activation code provided inside the old-fashioned physical box. But why is the supposedly green Mac maker manufacturing and shipping MobileMe boxes around the world in the first place?

I’ve been a paid MobileMe subscriber since July of last year. In fact, I subscribed to the $99 a year online suite the day it debuted. I admit, I was sold on the gorgeous desktop-like web apps that replaced the aging .Me (dotMac) web interface. As an early adopter, I got the privilege to “enjoy” numerous service outages and sluggish performance in the first few weeks following the launch. In addition, a billing issue led Apple to incorrectly authorize my credit card the full $99 membership fee instead of the usual $1-$2 authorization for the supposedly free trial account.

Mobile Me(ss)

When I upgraded my trial account to full membership, Apple then overcharged my credit card north of $120 instead of $99 (the company refunded the excessive charge weeks later). As the press re-christened MobileMe into MobileMe(ss), Steve Jobs apologized and offered a free three-month service extension as an olive branch to the affected customers – 60 days covering the “rocky launch” and 30 days as an excuse for billing issues. Despite the initial outrage and the high price point, I have never regretted signing up.

It just works – really

MobileMe is the ridiculously easy solution that I’ve been looking for to keep my machines (PC and Mac) and mobile devices (Apple’s, of course) in perfect sync. Being a heavy iPhone user, MobileMe proved indispensable for push email, calendar, and contacts. Moving this stuff to a new device is a simple matter of feeding the new device my MobileMe credentials. If I ever lose my iPhone, I can locate it on the world map using the web interface, lock the device, send alerts, and even remote-wipe all data. True, free services provide similar functionality, but I agreed to the $99 premium because MobileMe “just works,” like most Apple products.

All those trees for a code?

A year and a three-month service extension later, Apple fired an email reminder that asks for another $99 in exchange for 12 more months of MobileMe. “A year sure goes by fast,” Apple wrote in the message (one has to salute folks crafting such a carefully worded communication). Since I’ve canceled my credit cards, I picked up one of those shiny MobileMe boxes sitting on store shelves. The MobileMe box contains only two Apple stickers and a 16-digit activation code printed on a one-page welcome note. No really, that’s all there is inside. I’m bewildered that Apple is still manufacturing and shipping these boxes around the world. All those trees for a code?

UNBOXING MobileMe: This is the contents of the MobileMe box: Two Apple stickers and a one-page welcome note with an activation code. The box costs the same $99 like the online subscription paid for with your credit card. BTW, don’t bother entering the code, it’s used up.

Selling intangible products as tangible

On the other hand, the physical box makes the pricey service appear more worthy than it is. Most people don’t buy costly intangible products, especially premium online services like MobileMe. But Apple thinks people are more likely to buy a boxed service. It’s nothing unusual, though. For example, European banks advertise shiny boxes offering a set of targeted financial services, like online banking, a credit card, a preset account overcharge, and usually some benefits. Nevertheless, one would expect Apple to avoid such cheap marketing tactics.

RENEWING MobileMe: Log in to MobileMe Account Settings and click the Update Credit Card button. Choose “Apply Activation Key…” and then “Renew an existing account” (you can also reactivate an expired account or use the code to create a new account with a new member name). Once you enter a 16-digit code found inside the MobileMe box, in addition to your member name and password, hit Continue. Moments later, an email from Apple confirms the renewal. Needless to say, Apple is hoping that “it’s going to be another great year.” At $99 a year.

Conclusion: The MobileMe box is so un-green

Apple has built an empire selling digital, intangible goods. The iTunes Store, for example, is the online-only marketplace for the digital entertainment content like music, movies, audiobooks, podcasts, etc. The App Store is the largest application store in the world, although it distributes digital warez exclusively over the air. Apple’s strong focus on the online distribution has even led the company to avoid building Blu-ray Macs as it bets on the online distribution.

Why then can’t Apple drop MobileMe boxes and save some trees in the process? If the company really needs a physical representation of MobileMe, it should sell MobileMe cards with authorization codes on them, like the prepaid iTunes Gift cards. Put simply, as long as MobileMe boxes are sitting on store shelves, Apple’s self-proclaimed green orientation will be in a stark contrast with reality.

Reader Comments

“The MobileMe box contains only two Apple stickers and a 16-digit activation code printed on a one-page welcome note. No really, that’s all there is inside.”

Aw, poor cookie. What were you expecting? A certificate for a blow job?

The packaging is meant for visibility in a store to help sell the product. Apple is a company that is in business to make money. Period. They do this by selling things and a package that sits beside copies of Snow Leopard and iWork on as shelf will sell more copies than a card like iTunes.

And honestly, is such a thing really worth gripping about? Most people will waste more paper on their coffee in a few days with the paper cup, thermal wrapper and paper bag for their pastery, etc let alone the packaging for their food.

Recycle the packaging and get over it. There are bigger fish to fry and if it bothers you that much do your penance by whipping yourself like other religious freaks and crying to the Earth God(dess) for forgiveness.

Josh

“The MobileMe box contains only two Apple stickers and a 16-digit activation code printed on a one-page welcome note. No really, that’s all there is inside.”

Aw, poor cookie. What were you expecting? A certificate for a blow job?

The packaging is meant for visibility in a store to help sell the product. Apple is a company that is in business to make money. Period. They do this by selling things and a package that sits beside copies of Snow Leopard and iWork on as shelf will sell more copies than a card like iTunes.

And honestly, is such a thing really worth gripping about? Most people will waste more paper on their coffee in a few days with the paper cup, thermal wrapper and paper bag for their pastry, etc let alone the packaging for their food.

Recycle the packaging and get over it. There are bigger fish to fry and if it bothers you that much do your penance by whipping yourself like other religious freaks and crying to the Earth God(dess) for forgiveness.

joe

LMFAO @ JOSH!!!

HAHAHAHHAHAHAHA the best was: (im laughing so hard right now)

“Aw, poor cookie. What were you expecting? A certificate for a blow job?”